


Eclectic Extras and Erotica: First Time for Everything

by TheGreys (alienjpeg)



Series: Eclectic Extras and Erotica [4]
Category: Looming Gaia
Genre: Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Blow Jobs, Erotica, Fantasy, Friendship/Love, Gay Sex, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:29:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29837451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienjpeg/pseuds/TheGreys
Summary: [Evan/Lukas] Lukas’ first contract doesn’t go so well. After he gets roughed up by a dragon, he and Evan share some alcohol to dull the pain. Things get a bit too personal, and now they’re starting to think they’ve had too much…
Series: Eclectic Extras and Erotica [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2188446
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Eclectic Extras and Erotica: First Time for Everything

**Author's Note:**

> This short takes place after “The Perfect Shot” and is pretty much a direct sequel to “Bellyaching”.
> 
> This is a segment from an unfinished/abandoned story that took place after “The Perfect Shot”. I just rewrote it to be more sex-oriented and decided to post it as erotica, but there is definitely some character development here too that might be interesting to you if you’ve read the rest of the Looming Gaia series.
> 
> Trivia: Evan is 22 years old in this story and Lukas is 23. It doesn’t matter that much, but is also kind of does. Anyway…enjoy!

**FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING**

_SPRING, 5989_

The Freelance Good Guys had made their way north, from the dry slums of Chidibe up to the riverside city of Warud. Come summer, the sea water would drain from the peninsula and they could cross over to the continent of Noalen. But until then, they were stuck in Warud with a single coin to their name. They had to start finding work, and fast.

They were but a two-man team, Evan and Lukas, but two was certainly better than one. Lukas had joined Evan’s company almost six months ago, and he spent that time training, bulking up, building muscle so that he could start contributing in a meaningful way. He watched his body slowly transform before his eyes. Once twiggy and malnourished, he was now lean and defined with compact muscles, stronger, faster, and more flexible than he had ever been in his life.

Finally, he was ready for mercenary work.

Evan presented him with his first contract one morning. “It’s a simple job. All we have to do is slay a beast,” he explained. “Apparently some Matuzan war dragons got left behind on a battlefield a while back. No one came to collect them, so they all turned feral and scattered. One of these buggers has made a pest of itself here in Warud. We just need to bring its head to the client, and then we’re forty gold pieces richer.”

Lukas rolled his eyes. He said, “You’re telling me they wasted all these expensive mounts out of sheer laziness and then made it someone else’s problem? Pff, that’s the most Matuzan thing I’ve ever heard. Well done, troops.”

“Our boys up north aren’t much better,” Evan chuckled. “Greenhearst’s town hall was built from reclaimed siege equipment they never bothered to clean up back in the day. I can’t believe they just leave that stuff laying around, where any tribe of wild trolls could get a hold of it!”

“You speak as if a smelly, dumb troll would even know how to pull a lever…” muttered Lukas. The two shared a laugh as they made their way to the outskirts of the city. Their client owned an orchard near the river. They followed her vague directions, heading west from her orchard until they found themselves in the quiet wilderness. This desert region was largely dry as a bone, but the river running through Warud provided just enough water for greenery to sprout.

Evan and Lukas were surrounded by low-lying scrub of many colors, all in bloom from the rare spring rains. The landscape was dotted by short, fat trees with spiky leaves, bearing fruits from which the birds and rodents fed. Just head, the terrain jutted up into dry, rocky mountains. Within the mountains were plenty of nooks and crannies, dark places that any dragon would love to call home.

“I think this is the place,” said Evan, dropping his rucksack on the ground. He dug through it until he found their bait, a raw hare haunch wrapped in paper. He unwrapped it and left it near the cave, then the two set to work building a simple lean-to for cover.

They erected a frame out of sticks and tossed palm fronds over it. When they were done, they had a simple wall to wait behind. They did so, peeking through the fronds with anticipation, searching for any movement in the mountains. They were each clad in makeshift sets of armor, cobbled together from scraps of leather, rubber, wood, and metal they had scavenged in their travels. Their blades were dented and rusty, and Lukas’ scavenged bow was being held together by nothing but a few strips of tape with a shoelace for a bowstring. He had just three arrows, all of which he crafted himself out of bone, sticks, and stork feathers.

Depending on how this job went, perhaps they could upgrade their gear a little and take on more lucrative contracts. They watched a tiny ball of fur scamper up to their bait. A mouse sniffed at the meat, then disappeared into the crags of the mountain. Some time passed, perhaps an hour. Neither of them owned a watch, so they relied on nothing but the sun to tell them the time.

Then, a larger animal crept out from the mountain. The mercenaries held their breath. A desert fox was creeping up to their bait. “No, no, don’t…” whispered Evan, but the fox had already made up its mind. It picked up the meat and began trotting away with it. “Hey!” shouted Evan, clapping his hands, trying to scare the creature into dropping it. The fox only held on tighter and ran faster.

Suddenly it rolled across the ground with a high-pitched yelp. An arrow was lodged in its neck, killing it instantly. Evan turned to Lukas with wide eyes. The Uekoran was standing there with an empty bow. “Gotcha, little thief,” he hissed.

He crouched below the wall again and Evan rewarded him with a hearty pat on the back. “That was a damn fine shot, friend!” he praised. A modest smile tugged at Lukas’ lips. They left the dead fox where it lie, figuring it would only attract bigger prey.

As it turned out, they were right. A big shadow darted through the crags of the mountain. They squinted and bobbed their heads, trying to get a better look. The creature was quick and stealthy, reptilian in its movements. It clung to the rocks like a lizard, crawling over each surface as gracefully as water. At last, it poked its head out of the bold shadows.

Its vibrant red scales gleamed in the sunlight. It was a Matuzan war dragon like any other, with narrow yellow eyes and a mane of green, downy hair growing down its long neck. Two feathered wings, as colorful as those of a parrot, were folded at its sides. The remains of a leather harness still clung to its body, tattered where it had clearly been picking at it in an attempt to bite it off.

“There’s our beast,” whispered Lukas. He pulled back an arrow, carefully lining up his shot as the creature cautiously meandered towards the bait. It stopped to flick its forked tongue out at the dead fox, then turned its attention to the rabbit haunch beside it. Lukas aimed for its throat and let the arrow fly.

He missed. The arrow whizzed by and crashed against the mountain, alerting the dragon. But unlike the fox, it did not try to flee. It spotted Lukas peeking over his cover, its wings shot out, and then it was airborne. It snaked gracefully through the air and charged straight for the mercenaries.

Lukas dived out of its reach while Evan swung his sword. The blade slashed through the dragon’s harness as it passed, but did not penetrate it. The dragon let out a raspy screech and whipped around for another attack. It slammed its full weight into Evan, knocking him on his back. The creature moved with such speed, such precision, that it managed to make a sharp turn and snatch Lukas before Evan even got to his feet.

Lukas cried out as the dragon sank its claws into the back of his chestplate, dragging him across the ground. Evan scrambled to catch him, but before he could grab Lukas’ boot, the dragon flapped its mighty wings with vigor and lifted him into the sky.

“No! Luke!” Evan shouted, watching helplessly as his friend screamed and wriggled in its iron grip. From head to tail, the dragon was as long as the two of them standing on eachother’s shoulders. The moment it disappeared into those mountains, it was over for Lukas. Evan had to act quickly.

He drew his arm back and pitched his sword with all his might. It spun noisily through the air, narrowly missed Lukas, and instead pierced the dragon through its long neck. A beastly screech ripped over the sky. The rhythm of its wings faltered, slowed, and then it spiraled down. It crashed in a dramatic flurry of flapping wings and flying feathers, crying out in distress. It dropped Lukas some distance away.

Evan rushed to the crash site, running past the downed, wriggling beast, and kneeled beside his friend. Lukas lie motionless on a patch of blooming cacti. Evan carefully dragged him out of the patch, wincing as the needles stuck into his hands, and called, “Lukas! Speak to me, friend!”

The Uekoran wore deep creases on his face, teeth gnashed and eyes shut tight. His movements were stiff, clearly in a great deal of pain when he answered, “I’m hurt! I’m hurt bad!”

That was all he could manage before succumbing to tears. Evan looked back at the dragon. It was wriggling on the ground, rasping as it slowly tried to drag itself back to the mountain with the sword still lodged in its neck. It wasn’t getting away that easily, thought Evan, and he bolted towards it to finish what they started. He wrenched his sword from its neck, then with one clean slash and a spray of blood, its head separated and rolled across the dirt.

Its flapping wings stilled. Finally, it was dead. Evan picked up the head by its stubby horns and fastened it to his belt. Then he returned to Lukas, kneeling beside him once more to examine his wounds. “Can you move all your limbs?” he asked.

Through the shock of his pain, Lukas wasn’t so sure. One by one, he wiggled his arms, legs, fingers, and toes. They all seemed to be in working order. “Yes,” he croaked.

“That’s good. Nothing broken then,” mumbled Evan, gently flipping him over on his belly. Lukas protested the whole way, letting out another terrible groan.

Evan’s brows jumped. Well, there was the source of his pain. His thin, faulty armor had done little to protect him from the dragon’s hook-like talons. Its claws hooked right into his flesh, opening several deep gouges in his back and shoulders. Blood streamed down in worrisome gushes, saturating his clothes.

Evan let out a low whistle and sighed, “Ooh, he got you real good…”

“A-am I going to die?” creaked Lukas.

“Not if I can help it. Don’t move, I’ll be right back,” replied Evan, and he ran back to their cover to retrieve his bag. He returned shortly and began laying out medical supplies. They still had a roll of gauze, a bottle of alcohol, and a needle and thread left.

Evan made use of all these things to tend to Lukas’ biggest wounds. Once the bleeding was managed, He pulled out as many cactus needles as he could before lifting his friend over his shoulder. It was dangerous to stay out here in the open. He could tend the smaller injuries when they returned to civilization, so he wasted no time carrying Lukas back to Warud. The dragon’s head swung back and forth on his belt, forked tongue lulling. It would fetch them a fine reward.

But had it really been worth it?

*

The mercenaries collected their payment on their way back to town, then promptly used half of it to secure an inn room and several bottles of strong alcohol. The alcohol not only made a good antiseptic, but it dulled their pain as well. They started indulging that evening as they watched the sun set over the city. They sat together on the tiny third-floor balcony of their inn room, hanging their legs between the bars of the railing.

Evan took another swig of imported Folkvaran mead before passing it to Lukas. Lukas took an even bigger drink and passed it back. Between the two of them and a couple hours of time, they finished off the bottle and opened another.

“Feeling any better?” asked Evan.

Staring blearily out at the darkening sky, Lukas hiccupped, “It takes the edge off. I’m still angry though.”

“Angry? At what?”

“At myself,” grumbled Lukas. “What on Gaia was that clown-show back there? That thing snatched me like a mouse—I’d be dead if you were just a second slower! I could’ve gotten us both killed. I feel like an idiot.”

“Well, don’t,” said Evan. “I’ve been in this line of work for about five years now, and not once has a single job ever gone exactly as planned. Surprises are inevitable. Mistakes happen. Let’s just be thankful you lived to tell about it.” He took another drink and passed the bottle.

Lukas took it, almost indulged in a sip, then reconsidered. He always lost track of his shots when he drank with Evan. The lycanthrope put down alcohol like he put down bandits without so much as a buzz to show for it. Lukas was already dizzy with inebriation, so he set the bottle aside and said, “I didn’t spend five months getting in the best shape of my life just to become a liability! I bet your last crewman never got roughed up like this…”

“Who? Zeffer?” Evan snorted. “Well, you bet wrong. We both got flipped ass-over-tit on a regular basis, especially in those first few months. There were plenty of times we were sure we’d lose eachother, but somehow we always pulled through. I’m no doctor and I can’t prove anything, but I will say this: in my experience, sometimes death is a choice you make while you’re staring the celestials in the face.”

Lukas couldn’t stop his eyes from rolling. “If you say so…”

A silence passed between them. They listened to the bustle of the street below, then Evan said, “You and Zeffer weren’t so different, you know. He was an educated, fairly well-to-do guy. Thin as a rail, no prior combat experience. Everything he learned about fighting, he learned it from me. And everything I know, I was taught by my old friend, Mathias. Nobody comes out the gate an expert. I’ll be honest with you, Lukas…I have no idea what I’m doing half the time.”

Lukas raised an eyebrow. “You sure seem like you do,” he said.

Evan replied with a reserved smile, “Fake it ‘til you make it, that’s what I always say.”

“I’ve never heard you say that once.”

“Now you have,” said Evan, settling back against the wall. “Zeffer did eventually leave me, and I still don’t really understand why. I suppose his reasons are his own. But one thing’s for certain: no matter where he is, I know he’s alive and well. He was a whelp when I met him, but he was one tough, capable son of a bitch by the time he left my company. My point is, if I could make a soldier out of Zeffer, I can make one out of you too. But only if you promise you won’t quit on me, and most importantly, don’t quit on yourself. The only one who can hold you back is you.”

“And maybe a feral dragon,” grunted Lukas, gnashing his teeth in pain as he stretched his aching back. “That thing really flipped me…what did you say? Head-over-ass?”

“Ass-over-tit,” corrected Evan.

“Ah, right…That’s funny, I like that.” Lukas nodded, leaning forward to grasp the railing. The last thing he wanted to do was press his back against the wall.

If he weren’t so full of alcohol, perhaps he wouldn’t have asked such an invasive question. But the mead was running wild through his veins, rearing its head when he asked, “So, who was this Zeffer guy anyway? I mean, what was the nature of your relationship? Was he your friend, business partner, or…?”

Evan hesitated, shifting uncomfortably. He cleared his throat and began, “He was a little of everything. Friend, yes. My best friend, in fact. Business partner, definitely. We split all of our spoils fifty-fifty. He…” Evan trailed off, choosing his next words carefully. If it weren’t for the alcohol in his system, he knew he would have ended it there. But the mead blabbered on, “I mean, we were…I-I loved him. We were, uh, involved. Romantically.”

He cleared his throat again, awkwardly folding his hands before him. Had he said too much? He half-expected Lukas to get up and walk away, call him a name, or at least wrinkle his nose a little. But when he glanced at him, Lukas hadn’t even flinched. He just continued to stare out at the city, nodded and replied, “Ah, I see. Must have been extra hard when he up and walked then. I’m sorry, Evan.”

“Thanks. And yes, it was,” Evan said. His brow wrinkled, stomach sinking at the memory.

“You two weren’t married, were you?” Lukas queried.

“Ha. If only,” sighed Evan. “I met him in Southriver Wood. Wouldn’t have been legal unless we crossed the Folkvar border, and they really don’t take kindly to vampires up there, so we went south instead. We were trying to get to Matuzu Kingdom, but…well, we kind of got stuck here in Yerim-Mor, the way everyone warned us we would. Something about this shit-hole just sinks it’s teeth right into you, doesn’t it?”

“No kidding,” muttered Lukas. Between bandit-infested roads and crumbling infrastructure, just getting from one Morite city to another had been an ordeal. Getting out of the kingdom was a different beast entirely. He looked Evan up and down for a moment, then said, “Funny that you’re from Greenhearst. Folks back home always say there are no merrymen in Evangeline Kingdom.”

“Not anymore. I’m not there now, am I?” jested Evan.

Lukas chuckled, shaking his head. “Good point.”

Evan continued, “No, there are plenty of men like me in blue country. They just know better than to admit it. Those that stay go on to marry a woman and pretend as hard as they can that they love her, or else they’ll swing by their necks in the town square.”

Lukas’ face wrinkled in disgust. “Really? It’s that bad up there?”

“Oh, yes! It’s written into law. ‘ _No Evangelite citizen may lie with the same sex’_.”

“That’s absurd! Why?”

Evan shrugged and told him, “Because as far as our lovely queen is concerned, there’s no difference between a merryman and a rabid mongrel. If a man lies with another, he’ll spread his disease and now you’ve got _two_ sex-crazed pederasts running about, spreading their merriness all over the kingdom. Before you know it, all the women will die alone and Evangelite’s whole population will die with them.”

Inappropriate as it was, Lukas couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me! People actually believe that crap?” he blurted.

“Yes, they do. I know I did,” Evan admitted, scrubbing at his neck. “That’s what they teach us in school, so it’s all we really know. Why would our own kingdom lie to us? People don’t really question authority in blue country they way they do down here.”

“Gods have mercy…Those poor, backwater fools,” groaned Lukas. He scrubbed at his weary face, in disbelief at what he’d been told. Eyes shifting back to Evan, he asked, “You do know that none of that is true, right?”

After a brief hesitation, Evan answered, “Yes, I know now. I still grapple with it from time to time, but Zeffer pointed me in the right direction. He opened my eyes to a lot of things. Like I said, he was a lot like you. Educated guy, smart as a whip. I trusted him a lot more than I trusted Queen Indiga, that’s for sure.”

He paused, chewing on his next words before he added, “I knew what they told us couldn’t be true, because no man ever lied with me, yet I still had urges to lie with them for as long as I could remember. That means I was born merry, right? But when I asked my teacher, he said no one is born that way. It’s a disease that you get, and then you must be put down for the good of the kingdom.”

“That’s a pretty sick thing to tell a child,” mentioned Lukas.

Evan almost laughed, “Friend, you don’t even know the half of it! Imagine how I felt when I got older! The things they taught me caused me so much anguish, there were times I…I truly considered…taking my own life.” His voice quieted, weakened, as if he regretted his words half-way through speaking them.

He cleared his throat and went on, “Anyway, it was hope that kept me going. Hope that I would survive into adulthood and be strong enough to leave that awful kingdom behind. I had plenty of diseases, I just wasn’t convinced being merry was one of them. I missed a lot of school on account of my illnesses, and I guess I missed out on a lot of propaganda too. So, I stayed home and read everything I could get my hands on. My sister would sneak banned books to me from the city. All of these little things just sent me down a different path, I suppose.”

“Sounds like it. But how did you know what you were? Being surrounded by all that insane nonsense, I’d think you would…I don’t know, repress that kind of thing. Maybe even fool yourself into thinking you were into women,” said Lukas.

“Oh, trust me, there was no fooling myself,” Evan replied flatly. “I remember falling in love with a boy at my preschool. I followed that poor kid around like a puppy dog. I picked flowers for him. I even gave him my favorite toy soldier, trying to convince him to love me back.”

Lukas’ lips curved into a tight smile. “That’s cute,” he said.

“It was, until I came home and told my parents I was going to marry him...”

“Ah, I bet that went over well.”

Shaking his head, Evan told him, “My papa blew his stack. I thought he’d kill me then and there! I was just a little one though, no more than three or four, so he blamed my sister and said she wasn’t allowed to play dress-up with me anymore. From then on, he swatted my rear every time he caught me doing something ‘dainty’. I wasn’t even allowed to _look_ at my sister’s dolls, much less touch them.”

After a brief pause, he sighed, “As for my mama, she just laughed it off and told me boys could only marry girls. She didn’t think it was anything serious. Who really would? Kids say all kinds of silly things. Even I didn’t take my own feelings seriously until I got a little older. Right around—oh, about eleven or twelve is when things started getting tough.”

“So,” Lukas began carefully, “you have _no_ interest in women? None at all?”

“Nope.”

Not even a little bit?”

“No, I never have,” Evan answered earnestly. “And trust me, it’s not from a lack of trying! After I got lycanthropy, I became an unstoppable hooligan. I’d run all over Greenhearst with all these other hooligans and we’d get into all kinds of trouble. My friends liked to meet up with loose ladies from the girls’ school downtown. I’d tag along for the drinks, but every time those girls dragged me to their dorms, I…I don’t know, I just couldn’t relax. Nothing I did with them felt natural.”

“What, you mean you couldn’t get hard?” queried Lukas.

“On the rare occasions I could, I’d have to think of naked men to keep it that way,” Evan admitted sheepishly. “Every experience I had with women just made me feel like a loser. But when I got with Zef, it was like everything made sense. Everything felt natural and good, and I finally felt like I was doing something right. I don’t know, it’s a feeling I can’t explain very well.”

Lukas said, “You explained yourself fine. I think I’m just having a hard time understanding because I’ve never had that problem myself. Women, men, it’s never made a difference to me for as long as I can remember.”

“Did it make your parents worry?”

“Pff, no way! I’m Matuzan! They’d be more worried if I _wasn’t_ a little merry!” Lukas told him. “Compared to what you just told me about Evangeline Kingdom, things are whole lot different in the Midlands. You’re an outlier if you haven’t been with the same sex at least once. Even if you haven’t, you better not admit it or folks will laugh at you.”

Evan tilted his head, flabbergasted. “Is that true? I mean, have you ever been with…?” he trailed off, realizing that was the alcohol talking and he was probably being very rude. Lukas suddenly fell quiet. Even in the last dim rays of daylight, Evan could see his face flushing a few shades whiter as he stared blankly off into the city.

Lukas heard his question. It was innocuous enough, yet it drudged up filthy memories like a corpse rising out of a bog. Gazwan’s outpost flashed in Lukas’ mind. He recalled the abuse those men put him through, their violence and deviancy, their utter disregard for his well-being. They had used him like a plaything, broke him and tossed him away. Then they dug him out of the trash and broke him over and over for weeks on end, until the day Evan finally rescued him.

That was the first and last time Lukas had ever “been with” a man.

He must have been silent for too long, for Evan queried, “Lukas? You with me?”

Lukas sucked in a deep breath. The cool night air snapped him back to his senses, and he wobbled to his feet. “I’m fine. My back hurts, that’s all,” he half-lied, hobbling his way back into the room. “I think I need to lay down.”

Corking the mead, Evan took the bottle with him as he followed him inside. “Yes, it’s about time to turn in anyway,” he said. There was only one bed, and upon closer inspection, it was colonized by bloodsucking little bugs. So the mercenaries spread their bedrolls out and opted for the floor instead. There wasn’t much space to work with. They placed the rolls side-by-side, facing away from the horrid bed so that they wouldn’t have to watch the vermin that skittered around it.

The two turned their backs to eachother as they dressed into their pajamas. Evan put on long johns and a thin, sleeveless shirt that had seen better days. Just as he began unstrapping his peg leg, he heard Lukas grunt in pain. He turned and saw the Uekoran struggling to take his shirt off. Simply lifting his arms pulled at his crude stitches, aggravating every inflamed wound on his back.

“Luke, let me help you,” said Evan, rushing to his aid.

“No! I can do it,” Lukas insisted through his teeth. His stiff movements said otherwise.

Evan disregarded his wishes and carefully pulled his shirt off for him. “Don’t be stubborn. You’re going to pop your stitches out,” he said. He picked up Lukas’ clean shirt and prepared to help him into it, then thought better of it and set it aside.

“You know, on second thought,” he began, “maybe you shouldn’t bother with a shirt tonight. Seriously, those stitches are holding on by a thread—no pun intended.”

Lukas winced. “Does it look bad?” he asked.

Evan circled around him, examining his handiwork. In retrospect, he could have done a lot better. He replied, “Uh…the wounds are swollen, that’s for sure. Just lay on your belly and try not to roll over. The inflammation should improve by tomorrow.”

That wasn’t the answer Lukas wanted, but he slipped on his loose, cotton pants and did as he was told regardless. He didn’t like the words “try” and “should”. In matters of life or death, he preferred “do” and “will”. Assuming he didn’t die from infection, it was going to be weeks before he was fit for another contract, he thought miserably.

Lukas didn’t want to be alone with his miserable thoughts all night, so he decided to talk to Evan. “Hey, Evan. Can I tell you a secret?” he queried.

Rolling over to face him, Evan said, “Of course. What is it?”

Taking a deep breath, Lukas confessed, “I’ve…never been with a man before. I’ve actually never been with anyone except…her.” He muttered the word, as if any reference to “her” pained him, even if he hadn’t spoken her name.

Lukas only spoke of Itanya once, but the story stuck with Evan. Rather, the grief on his face as he talked about her stuck with Evan, and he knew exactly who Lukas was referring to when he saw the same grief twist his expression.

Glancing back at him, Lukas continued, “We were only together a few times. Less than five, probably. It was risky. I-I didn’t want to get her in trouble. My mother would have killed her if she caught us. I mean, actually murdered her in cold blood, and possibly me too.”

“I imagine so,” said Evan.

“I’m not a very good Matuzan, am I? My peers in college made fun of me when I told them…”

“I don’t know what makes a ‘good’ Matuzan, but with a track record like that, you’d make a model Evangelite,” Evan told him with a little smile. “Folks back home believe the less partners you’ve had, the more upstanding you are. They aren’t too keen on promiscuity up there.”

“Huh. It’s exactly the opposite in the Midlands,” mumbled Lukas. “If you haven’t slung your pecker all over town by the age of twenty, people think there must be something wrong with you. Like you’ve got a disease, or a bad reputation or something. I haven’t even kissed a man yet, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to try.”

“Do you want to try it now?” asked Evan, waggling his eyebrows in a jesting manner.

Lukas either didn’t realize he was joking, or didn’t care, for he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Okay.”

Evan’s smile straightened, face turning white. Had he heard correctly? A silent moment passed between them. “You…r-really? Lukas, you realize I was joking, right?” he stammered.

A similar stunned expression crossed Lukas’ face as well. He hesitated, then answered, “S-so was I. You really thought I was serious?”

“I—no, no! Did you?”

“No!”

“Well, alright then,” said Evan, rolling onto his back. He folded his hands over his belly and closed his eyes. “Good night, friend. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” He paused. “Seriously, watch out. That bed is _infested_.”

“Ugh, I know. They ought to shut this dump down…” grumbled Lukas. He tried to pull his blanket higher, but just the weight of it against his swollen wounds made him cry out.

Evan’s eyes snapped open. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“What do you think?” Lukas growled tearfully. “My fucking back is killing me! God, as if I didn’t have enough trouble sleeping as it is!”

Evan frowned, looking upon his friend with pity. He didn’t know what to do for him beyond what he’d already done. He racked his brain for solutions, and all he could come up with was, “Would you like me to head into town and see if I can find some more ointment?”

“No! The first tin we got was snake oil anyway; it’s not worth getting ripped off again!”

“What can I do for you then?”

“I don’t know! Just…” Lukas sighed, shifting uncomfortably. “Just stay here. Talk to me. Distract me, _please_. I don’t want to be alone with the pain.”

Evan obliged, “Alright. What do you want to talk about?”

“Whatever! Anything!”

Evan sat with the silence for a moment, furrowing his brow in thought. There was only one thing he could think of, and it was going to haunt his mind all night if he didn’t bring it up. He turned his head towards Lukas and asked carefully, “Lukas, were you actually joking earlier? Because it’s okay if you weren’t. Just so you know.”

Lukas froze. On second thought, maybe talking wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe he should just shut this conversation down and go to sleep. But yet again, the mead was calling the shots, and it launched a question right back, “That depends. Were _you_ joking?”

After all they’d been through, Evan figured he owed the man a little honesty. “Er, kind of. Since you said you never have and all, and you wanted to try, I just thought…I-I wouldn’t mind, if you wanted to. What else is a merryman good for, right? I might as well be useful for something.” He offered an anxious little smile, regretting every single word that left his mouth. He just kept digging himself deeper, it seemed.

Lukas let out a snort, a tiny gust of a laugh. “It’s not like you just saved my life or anything, you useless heap...”

Evan shrugged and fell silent once again. He could tell Lukas wanted to say something else, but the silence lasted a moment more. Every second he waited was agony.

He heard a shuffling noise approaching. Lukas pushed their bedrolls together and scooted up beside him. He said, “Before we do anything, I want to make it clear that I am _very_ drunk. Pickled Lukas is not the same person as Sober Lukas, so Sober Lukas can’t really be held responsible for anything that drunk idiot does. Are we clear?”

Evan’s brows arched high. “Are you saying you want to kiss me?” he queried.

Lukas said, “I don’t know. Let’s find out,” and with that, he pressed his lips to Evan’s.

The kiss was short and chaste. They parted after a couple seconds. “Did that do anything for you?” asked Evan.

Lukas furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure,” he answered slowly. “Can we try again?”

“Alright.”

The two shared a second kiss, slightly more involved than the first. Lukas gently sucked Evan’s bottom lip as he pulled away. The room was lit only by a single dying candle on the table, but had it been brighter, he would have seen Evan’s face flush bright pink.

Evan had never been more thankful for the darkness as he asked, “How was that?”

Lukas answered, “I swear I’m not messing with you, it really is hard to tell. Third time’s the charm?”

Evan smiled. “Fine by me.”

They shared a third kiss. This time, Evan parted his lips, inviting him inside. Sweeping his tongue through felt as natural as breathing to Lukas. The taste of alcohol was strong on both of their tongues. They pulled away after a few seconds, and neither one of them could hide their smiles.

They each let out an anxious laugh. “Well?” asked Evan.

Nodding in approval, Lukas reported, “Yeah. I think I like it. Do you…want to do it some more?”

Evan winced at the embarrassing crack in his voice when he answered, “Okay,” and they locked lips for a fourth time, then a fifth, and upon their sixth they couldn’t bring themselves to pull away.

The all-consuming pain in Lukas’ back had become nothing but a distant memory. At least, until he reached up to caress Evan’s face. He let out a hiss and Evan jerked away, asking, “You alright?”

“I will be,” Lukas grunted, forcing himself to slow his eager hands. He caressed Evan’s stubbled jaw and Evan returned the favor, tongues dancing, probing deep into new territory.

Something about this felt very natural indeed. Lukas broke from the kiss, only to redirect his lips to Evan’s neck. The lycanthrope’s mouth fell open. He let out a breathy laugh, surprised by his friend’s boldness. His big, calloused hand slid away from Lukas’ jaw, down his neck, over his shoulder, and rested gently on his side.

Lukas was propped up at an awkward angle. It did no favors for his ailing back, and he hissed again as he stretched too far. Evan had a solution in mind. “Come on. Up here,” he said, gently guiding the Uekoran to lay over top of him.

Lukas shot him a doubtful look and said, “This _has_ to be crushing your ribs.”

“Yep,” Evan teased, pulling him into another passionate kiss. He slid his hands down Lukas’ bare sides, mindful of the wounds just above.

Lukas straddled him, resting his knees on either side of the lycanthrope’s body. He felt himself stiffening between his hips and Evan’s belly, and he knew there was no way Evan didn’t notice it too. He broke away from the kiss and panted, “How far should we take this?”

Evan thought for a moment, then shrugged. “How far do you want to go?”

That was a good enough answer for Lukas, who lunged hungrily at the man’s neck again. He dragged his tongue from Evan’s throat to his earlobe, nibbling upon it before continuing around the shell of his ear. Evan couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. Maybe this day didn’t turn out so bad after all.

He spread his reach and groped Lukas’ backside with both hands, admiring firm muscles he didn’t quite expect. “Mmm…didn’t skip out on those squats, did you?” he teased.

“Shut up,” chuckled Lukas, though deep down, he was truly flattered. He began to grind his hips against Evan’s. It happened so naturally, he didn’t even realize he was doing it until Evan gyrated his own to match his slow, steady rhythm.

They were too hot, bothered, and full of booze to go back now, and at that point both of them knew it. Whatever they started here, they had a sense of personal duty to finish it.

Lukas braced himself with one hand on the floor, the other finding its way to Evan’s chest. He felt the swell of his pectoral and the small bump of his nipple standing erect beneath his shirt. Lukas gently rubbed it with his thumb as he romanced the man’s muscular neck. Evan’s pulse hammered against Lukas’ tongue. He was never much of a moaner, but he let out a soft, involuntary sound that sent a shiver down Lukas’ spine.

Lukas offered a low moan in return, sending vibrations against Evan’s jugular. Evan seemed to enjoy the attention to his chest, for he arched his back to push himself deeper into the Uekoran’s touch. Lukas smiled against his neck. “Do you like that?” he asked coyly.

“Mm-hmm,” Evan hummed, changing up the rhythm of his hips. He squeezed Lukas’ rear tighter, pressing him closer against his stiff arousal. He started rubbing against a spot that made Lukas’ knees weak. Lukas let out a shuddering breath as he fumbled for the hem of Evan’s shirt. He pulled it up to his neck, exposing the thick carpet of hair beneath.

He recoiled a little. The hair always caught him off-guard. The sheer density of it was like the fur of a beast, but even so, he found a little flash of pink in the forest and flicked his tongue at it. He heard Evan suck in a deep breath, felt the swell of his chest as he did. Lukas shifted his weight to his other hand, using the other to fondle Evan’s opposite nipple.

Evan’s head lulled to the side. He let out another breathy laugh before sinking his teeth into his bottom lip, and in his moment of bliss, he absently slid his hands up Lukas’ back. He knew he messed up in less than a second. Lukas arched his back inwards and howled, prompting a string of desperate apologies from Evan.

“S-sorry, sorry, I’m sorry! I forgot!” he hissed.

Lukas clenched his teeth and trembled with a full-body shudder. His locks of hair flew every which way when he shook his head, as if to shake the pain out. Then he took a deep breath, let his body relax, and sighed, “Just…be careful. Please.”

“Do you want to stop?” asked Evan, brow sagged with concern.

Lukas furrowed his brow and snapped, “Oh, fuck no!” He sat up with a grunt, looking down at their hips when he said, “I think these pants are starting to chafe me though…”

Evan smiled. “If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine,” he offered.

Lukas smiled back, and without a word, he slipped his thumb under his waistband and tugged the front of his pants down. Evan noted how his erection was long, dark, and slender like the rest of him.

“Wow,” Evan gasped. He didn’t know what else to say, but Lukas pressed him anyway.

“What do you think?” the Uekoran asked. He stroked himself a few times, hoping to nurture some growth. The two had seen eachother nude once or twice, which they considered unfortunate but inevitable given their rough lifestyle. They certainly had never seen eachother aroused, and now that they had, there was no comparison.

“I think it’s beautiful,” Evan told him earnestly. He reached forth and queried, “Can I…?”

Lukas nodded, allowing Evan to explore him with his hands. Stiff. Warm. Slightly sticky. These were the sensations Evan felt, and he delighted in every one of them.

“Now let’s see yours,” said Lukas. Evan obliged, tugging the waistband of his long johns below his buttocks. Lukas’ eyes bugged. The tent in Evan’s pants didn’t do it justice. His first reaction was to burst into laugher, slapping a hand over his mouth in utter disbelief.

He quickly realized that was a poor way to react, for Evan’s expression changed to one of worry. “What? W-what’s wrong with it?” demanded Evan, making a poor attempt to conceal it with his hand.

Lukas waved his hands and assured him, “No, no! Nothing’s wrong at all! It’s just…Evan, it’s fucking _enormous_!”

Evan’s brows jumped. It had been a while, but now it was all coming back to him. Lukas was hardly the first one to mention this to him. “Oh. Yes,” he said. “The, uh, lycanthropy made _everything_ a little bigger…”

“Everything except your brain, right?” Lukas jabbed, giving him a playful knock on the head.

Evan retaliated with, “You sure talk a lot of smack for a ragdoll. Would be a shame if we had to stitch you up all over again…”

The two shared an awkward laugh. After a moment, Evan queried, “Do you want to, um…?” as he made a vague gesture with his fist and his mouth. Lukas hesitated, then nodded, carefully positioning himself on his side. He lay parallel to Evan in the opposite direction, each facing eachother’s hips. Evan removed his shirt completely and bunched it up under his hip, already preparing for the mess he was going to make.

Then, he eagerly took Lukas into his mouth. Lukas’ eyes nearly disappeared back into his head, letting out an involuntary gasp when he did. His rhythm, his suction, the swirl of Evan’s tongue was just right. He tried to stay focused, turning towards Evan’s neglected arousal. It rested in a bed of thick, curly hair, where pearly beads were already glistening in the candlelight.

He grasped it, amazed by its weight, and gave it a few experimental strokes. He had never touched another man this way before, except—

The room suddenly began to spin. Lukas closed his eyes tightly, fighting the wave of nausea overcoming him. He’d forgotten how to breathe. There was no air left in the room. He had to get out, had to escape!

Evan noticed his silence, his inaction, and the sudden flagging of his erection. His voice tore Lukas from his silent panic when he asked, “Is something wrong?”

Lukas jumped with a little start. He took a deep breath and raked a hand over his sweaty face, cringing at the pain that rocketed up his back when he did. “I-I don’t know what I’m doing,” he admitted. “I’ve never done this before. Not, uh…not…willingly.”

The last few words were barely louder than a whisper. He had no idea why he admitted such a thing. Perhaps it was the alcohol working its traitorous magic, or perhaps he felt he owed Evan the honesty now that they were staring down eachother’s naked bodies.

Evan opened his mouth to speak, then quickly closed it. He furrowed his brow as he processed his friend’s words. Vague as though they may be, the lycanthrope managed to put two and two together, and his heart sank to the pit of his stomach once he figured out the answer.

“Oh, Lukas…” he said quietly. Lukas winced. He wished he never said anything. The last thing he wanted to do was make a spectacle of his trauma.

Thankfully, Evan didn’t seem interested in doing that either. He simply reached out and grabbed the leg of a footstool, dragging it forward. He patted the seat and said, “This isn’t a good position for your back anyway. Do you want to just relax and I’ll, um…help you feel better?”

Lukas didn’t know what to say. He thought, “Gods bless you, you big oaf,” but what came out of his mouth was nothing more than an incoherent mumble. He sat on the stool, resting his arms around Evan’s neck as the lycanthrope positioned himself before him on his knees.

Evan massaged his thighs as he planted kisses down his belly. Lukas nerves were still rattled, but within a minute or so, Evan’s gentle touch lulled them back to sleep. Lukas’ shoulders relaxed. He closed his eyes, felt a smile tugging at his lips when Evan’s kisses trailed up his hardening arousal. Soon it was back at full attention, and Lukas’ attention was no longer divided between the past and the present.

Evan teased him with one last drag of his tongue, then hungrily took him in to the hilt. Lukas’ mouth fell open. He combed his fingers through Evan’s shaggy, straw-colored hair and, for the first time in his life, began to _whimper_ with pleasure.

“Ah…oh, fuck, that’s so good…” he nearly sobbed. Evan hummed around him, something like a chuckle, and quickened his pace. He bobbed his head between Lukas’ thighs and stroked himself simultaneously, but if their love was a race, then Lukas won by a landslide. He intended to warn Evan beforehand, though that was impossible to do when he himself never felt it coming.

He tangled his fingers in Evan’s hair, pulling harder than he meant to. He let out a long, gasping moan as tremors quaked his legs. The last time he made a sound like that was…never, he realized. Whatever Evan did to him tonight must have been something special.

“Sorry! S-sorry!” he gasped. Evan jerked away just a little too late, getting a mouthful before the rest of Lukas’ seed spilled onto his chest. Evan just shot him a little grin and waggled his brow, silently assuring him he had no hard feelings. Lukas didn’t know whether he was disgusted, turned on, or impressed when he watched the man spit the mess onto his hand and finish stroking himself off with it. Resourceful if nothing else, he thought.

Evan didn’t last much longer after that. He swiped his shirt off the floor just in time. It absorbed his seed, then mopped Lukas’ off his chest before it was cast aside once more. Evan finished without much fanfare, certainly nothing as dramatic as Lukas’ wail. He sucked in a sharp breath and held it for a moment, his body trembled, and then he let the air out slow through his nostrils.

The two mercenaries stared at one another, too breathless to speak. What could be said anyway? The alcohol was wearing off, and so too was the power of their raging hormones. At a loss for what else to do, Evan simply opened his arms to Lukas, carefully helping him back into his bedroll. He settled in beside him, pulling his blanket over them both.

Finally, Lukas broke the silence. “That was fun,” he said.

“You think so?”

“Yeah. Maybe I’m a good Matuzan after all.”

“I agree,” Evan told him, planting a kiss between his eyes.

Lukas didn’t realize how tired he was until that moment. Fatigue hit him like a speeding brick, and he was fighting to keep his eyes open as he yawned, “We really shouldn’t…make a habit of this…”

As much as that disappointed him, Evan was inclined to agree. The last time he mixed love and business, it only ended in tears. “You’re probably right,” he mumbled.

Evan rolled onto his back and let out a deep sigh. The fatigue was claiming him too. He had nearly drifted to sleep when he felt something wrap around his fingers. He opened his eyes and looked down. His right hand was intertwined with Lukas’ left. His heart pounded in his chest. Those old feelings he shared with Zeffer—the ones he fought so hard to lay to rest—were suddenly rising from the dead to terrorize him all over again.

It was a swirling vortex of fear and euphoria. He was simultaneously over the moon and under the ground.

They were going to make a habit of this, weren’t they?

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a kudos if you enjoyed the story, and of course feedback is always appreciated. Let me know if you found any mistakes and I’ll fix them.
> 
> I really do love writing Evan and Lukas in their younger days. I like how Lukas still had a bit of bright-eyed wonder left in him. Also funny how Evan was a bit of a potty-mouth back then, but twenty years later he’s scolding his crew for using naughty language lol. Both of them also display some prejudice towards other peoples here, which they definitely grew out of in later stories. These two idiots deserve eachother. If only they knew how much drama this night would lead to for the next two decades…hooo boy.


End file.
